Expert: William Forster - 10/23/2006

Question
I have a 94 s10 thats just a daily driver. Its not perfect, and thats fine with me.  The paints pretty good except there is some clear coat flaking away near the driver side door handle. Its the type of vehicle that Im not even going to consider taking it to a shop for a total door repaint.  If I did a little wet sanding where the clear coat has flaked off to the base coat and then just blended in some clear coat myself would it look like hell or at least respectable from 10 feet away (which I would be thrilled with). Im just looking for a cheap fix to keep it looking presentable.  Any advice, Id sure appreciate.

Answer
Hello Nick! Clearcoat peeling on an S10 this vintage is probably the result of a repair job starting to let go. If it's just the clear, and no paint, the very easiest thing to do is to use high pressure water to remove as much clear as will come off, then scuff and clear the whole panel. Trying to sand down the clear will not work, you will probably go thru to the primer, or base coat. Either will produce an undesirable result. There will be lines around where the clear stopped flaking, but it will look a little better, and stop the peeling. That's about all I can tell you, without having you sand, prime, color blend, then clear perhaps the whole side of the truck. If you want to go that route, I can help, also.